Brandon had a CT scan this morning, followed by an appointment with his oncology surgeon. Of course, we all wanted to hear the oncology surgeon say everything looked good and that he would see him in 6 months for his next scan. That’s not exactly what he said, and we are still trying to figure out how we feel about what he did say.

He came in and said right off that the CT scan from his point of view looked pretty good. He said the radiologist who read the scan did note a thickening of the peritoneal membrane. He said that he feels that is because Brandon is still recovering from major abdominal surgery, and it makes complete sense to him that the thickening could be related to that. The radiologist also noted a little bit of fluid in his abdomen. So just to play it safe, he ordered a PET scan to study that area more closely, which will be done next Tuesday. After that, Brandon will see him again on Wednesday to talk about the results. The CT scan also showed some enlarged lymph nodes in his chest, which he wasn’t too concerned about. They are still within the normal range, just larger than before, and he feels they could be “reactive” to either the surgery or to Brandon’s recent bout with the flu. He urged Brandon not to worry too much about that. They were not in the lungs, which could have perhaps been concerning.

All in all, the oncology surgeon’s demeanor was upbeat, and he said more than once that he felt good about what he saw. That being said, it’s difficult for Brandon not to let that bit of uncertainty cloud his thinking. We all still feel like we don’t know what tomorrow will bring. We can be very thankful that the doctor didn’t see/feel any new tumors and that he had a positive attitude, unlike when he talked to us after the scans last October. We didn’t walk out of the appointment with another surgery looming. Now we just have to continue to pray that his instincts about what they did see are right and that Brandon will hear the words he’s waiting to hear when we go back next Wednesday.

Please keep praying!